“We’re mostly just a bunch of second rate hydrogen
breathers here. Not too many Humans make the trip and even fewer stay. She came
in on singleship last night and walked into my office like she owned the place.
Says she’s a Mechanist Salvor and the white duds, the soulbox and her official
datablock says it’s true.

“Like I said, not many Humans here, and only a fraction are Mechanist. There
hasn’t been a Salvor here to pick up the dead while I’ve been in charge – two
whole trueyears. So we gave her the two soulboxes in the office vault, and
Winnik Kultraene Phuo gave her the head of his old friend Ab’e Killian – old
Winnik wasn’t real up on these Human rituals, so he’d kept the whole head in an
old box, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“She seemed a little more upset when we told her about Bart Zhotraug – he fell
off a rig some time back, so his little box got crushed down in the depths. What
can you do? Anyway, she took the three boxes and Killian’s skull. We asked her
if she wanted a bag or something, but no. Now she’s just sitting out on the obs
deck, watching the truesun set.

“You can talk to her if you want, but she gives me the creeps. Not an expert on
Human anatomy by any means, but I’m pretty sure her eyes shouldn’t reflect the
suns like that. I’d stay out of her way, if I were you.”